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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28187541">it always leads to you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearzoemurphy/pseuds/dearzoemurphy'>dearzoemurphy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Community (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Christmas, F/M, Fluff, Mild Angst, Season/Series 04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 00:48:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,550</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28187541</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearzoemurphy/pseuds/dearzoemurphy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Jeff always got lonely around the holidays. It tends to happen when your mom lives out of state, you’re estranged from your father, and your other friends always have plans of some sort. Shirley had her boys to spend time with, the residents of apartment 303 were planning to use the days off to have an intense movie marathon, Chang had disappeared before the final bell on the last day of the semester, and the Dean was traveling to visit his surprisingly real sister.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>And then there was Britta. Christ, everything always led back to Britta, didn’t it?</i>
</p><p>Jeff invites Britta on a holiday getaway. Set during the winter break of season 4 in a timeline where Britta didn't date Troy.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Britta Perry/Jeff Winger</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>it always leads to you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>title and inspiration from 'tis the damn season by Taylor Swift, extra inspiration from Yellow_Bird_On_Richland and <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27910492">this</a> fic!! hope you all enjoy &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jeff always got lonely around the holidays. It tends to happen when your mom lives out of state, you’re estranged from your father, and your other friends always have plans of some sort. Shirley had her boys to spend time with, the residents of apartment 303 were planning to use the days off to have an intense movie marathon, Chang had disappeared before the final bell on the last day of the semester, and the Dean was traveling to visit his surprisingly real sister.</p><p>And then there was Britta. Christ, everything always led back to Britta, didn’t it?</p><p>She was estranged from her family too. And her friends were his friends, so she was in exactly the same position that he was. She would argue that she was always less lonely than he was, because at least she had her cats to keep her company. But he knew her too well at this point to fall for that. He knew that she spent a healthy amount of time watching garbage reality TV and drinking half-heartedly prepared holiday cocktails during their time off from school. He knew because, on more than one occasion, he’d joined her for a Jersey Shore or House Hunters binge over winter break.</p><p>So this year, on the last day of school, he took her by the arm before she could leave the library and pulled her to the side.</p><p>“Jeff? What’s up?”</p><p>“What if we rented a place around here for the week, just to get away? To feel like we actually have family to go out and visit or something, and so we’re not stuck in our apartments alone feeling sorry for ourselves,” he proposed.</p><p>Britta pursed her lips. “Speak for yourself, I never feel sorry for myself during the holidays. I have-”</p><p>“Your cats, I know. We can find an Airbnb that allows pets if you want. I just don’t want to be alone this year and I don’t want to be in a little apartment. I’ll cover everything, just come with me? Please?”</p><p>“Jesus, Winger, your desperation is starting to freak me out a little.”</p><p>He looked down at his feet, feeling embarrassment starting to creep in. “Sorry. I just… “</p><p>Britta reached out and brushed her thumb against Jeff’s shoulder, prompting him to look back up and meet her gaze. “Hey. I’m kidding, that sounds like fun. It’ll be nice to have a change of scenery.”</p><p>Jeff gave a wry smile in return. “Okay. Great, I’ll start looking for a place tonight.”</p><p>“Do you think you could find one with a hot tub? I mean, it’s not mandatory, but…”</p><p>“Only if you promise to bring your black bikini,” Jeff replied, outwardly cringing at how overtly flirtatious he sounded.</p><p>However, his request barely phased Britta. She just looked right at him and said, “Only if <em>you</em> promise to bring actual swim trunks instead of a Speedo.”</p><p>His smile returned, a little broader this time. “Alright. You’ve got yourself a deal.”</p><p>---</p><p>
  <em>Saturday</em>
</p><p>---</p><p>“Jeff! You didn’t tell me that we were staying in a fucking <em>mansion</em>,” Britta exclaimed as they pulled up to the place he had rented.</p><p>He couldn’t help the almost devious grin that spread across his face at the sight of hers lighting up. “It’s not a mansion, it’s just an honest-to-goodness house. The owners are visiting family for the next two weeks and pretty much wanted someone to house-sit, so it was cheap. They also have cats of their own, so yours should be able to roam no problem,” he explained, “And before you ask, yes, they have a hot tub on the patio out back. Apparently, there’s a great view of the mountains behind the house.”</p><p>Britta turned towards him, her mouth still open wide in surprise. She reached over and lightly socked him on the shoulder. “Look at you, Jeffery Winger! You hit the Airbnb lottery with this one.”</p><p>“That I did. Well, are you ready to unload our stuff?”</p><p>“Absolutely,” she replied enthusiastically, unbuckling her seatbelt and practically hopping out of the car.</p><p>It had been a rough year for everyone, so Jeff liked seeing Britta this excited about something. In all honesty, it had been a rough <em>several</em> years, so any and all spots of joy were welcomed with open arms.</p><p>Britta grabbed the two cat carriers from the back first, taking a moment to check on both Suzie B, Jr. and Daniel before carrying them up the driveway. Jeff shook his head slightly as he unloaded both of their suitcases, briefly wondering what Britta had packed to make hers so heavy. He followed after her, setting the bags down and pushing past her to put in the code for the electronic lock.</p><p>She stepped in first, gasping upon first taking everything in.</p><p>“Oh my god. There’s marble flooring here? And a chandelier? Oh my god?” she sputtered, slowly spinning around to take it all in.</p><p>“You know, there’s much more beyond the foyer,” Jeff said jokingly.</p><p>Britta scoffed. “I <em>guess</em>.”</p><p>She relented and kept walking into the house, taking a left towards the kitchen. Jeff set down their bags at the end of the foyer and followed Britta to see her placing both cat carriers underneath the bar.</p><p>“Is there a good place for me to set up their litter box?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips and surveying the area.</p><p>“God, you just reminded me <em>exactly</em> why I hate pets.”</p><p>---</p><p>After agreeing to set the litter box up in the nearby laundry room, Jeff and Britta grabbed their bags and ventured upstairs to scope out the bedrooms. Upon seeing the very first room at the top of the stairs, Britta gasped and ran into it.</p><p>“This one’s mine,” she yelled over her shoulder.</p><p>Jeff poked his head into the room to quickly look over it. The walls were painted a pale pink and there were several paintings of flower bouquets hung up around the room. A queen sized bed was positioned in the middle of the furthest wall, flanked by a stark white bedside table and matching dresser. The bedspread was a matching white, covered in raised floral detailing. However, it took another moment for Jeff to see what had drawn Britta to the room: a floor to ceiling glass door that led out to a small balcony with a set of wrought iron table and chairs.</p><p>“You’re going to have to share that balcony,” he said, waving his finger in its direction.</p><p>Britta huffed as she threw her suitcase onto the end of the bed. “I don’t think I can say no since you’re paying for all of this, can I?”</p><p>“Nope!” he replied cheerfully. She rolled her eyes at his wide grin before he swiftly moved along in search of the other bedroom.</p><p>It didn’t take long to find it, and Jeff was surprised to find that it was the exact opposite of Britta’s light and flowery bedroom. It was sleek and gray, everything in the room being dark and neutral toned.</p><p><em>“Perfect,”</em> he thought as he slung his bag onto his bed. He stared down at it for a moment and contemplated whether or not to unpack, ultimately deciding that it was a problem for future Jeff. He turned and walked out of the room, stopping to stand in Britta’s doorway.</p><p>“Hey, Britts?”</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>He stepped further into the room to see that she was taking the opposite approach to him; taking clothes out of her suitcase and placing things into an empty drawer in the dresser.</p><p>“I didn’t plan anything for dinner yet. Do you want to go grocery shopping tonight or just get takeout?”</p><p>She looked up and tilted her head to the side, giving him a wry smile. “I think you already know that I’m going to choose whichever option involves the least amount of effort. Takeout, of course.”</p><p>---</p><p>A little over an hour later, they were sitting on the couch in the spacious living room with boxes of Chinese takeout in hand, an episode of the Great British Baking Show playing on the giant plasma screen TV. Britta had let her cats out and they were roaming over the couch, Jeff struggling to resist the urge to swat them away every time one of them set a paw on his leg or swiped at his chopsticks.</p><p>“Looks like Phil isn’t going to have enough time to finish applying his marzipan decorations,” Britta remarked, watching the show intently.</p><p>Jeff looked over at her with a certain amount of incredulousness. “I never would have expected you to be the baking show type.”</p><p>Britta shrugged as she dug around her takeout box with her chopsticks, searching for a piece of vegetable tempura. “I don’t know, the competitors are just so nice to each other. It’s a good distraction,” she said.</p><p>“I mean, you’re not wrong,” Jeff replied. He returned his gaze to the TV, where Paul Hollywood was currently tearing into someone’s underbaked showstopper.</p><p>“Do you find British accents attractive?”</p><p>Britta turned and eyed him suspiciously. “Why do you ask?”</p><p>“A lot of people do. I was just curious,” he said with a shrug.</p><p>“Well, the answer is no. But I think that’s mostly because the only British person I know in real life is Professor Duncan,” she said with a shiver.</p><p>Jeff laughed. “Understandable. I can see how anything that’s associated with him could become a universal turn-off.”</p><p>“Yeah…” Britta mumbled, eating the last piece of tempura and setting the box aside, “Anyway, once you’re done, do you want to check out the hot tub? I know it’s just the first night, but-”</p><p>“Absolutely. Meet you out there in five?”</p><p>She nodded as she gently stroked the top of Daniel’s head before lifting him off of her leg so that she could stand up. “Yup! I have a little surprise to prepare, so feel free to take your time.”</p><p>Jeff quirked his eyebrow up, intrigued. “Alright, noted.”</p><p>---</p><p>Once he was in his swim trunks, Jeff walked swiftly from the back door to the edge of the patio, eager to get to the hot tub before he inevitably got cold due to Colorado’s winter weather. Britta was already nestled inside, the bubbles roaring and flowing over her body so that only her face was visible.</p><p>“Hey there!” she said, reaching behind her to grab something off the ledge beside the tub, “Happy holidays.”</p><p>She had a glass of champagne in each hand. She held one out to Jeff, smiling and prompting him to take it.</p><p>“Oh, you didn’t have to,” he said, accepting the drink and inspecting the glass.</p><p>“I know. I brought it for Christmas Day, but I thought it would be fun to sit in this hot tub and drink champagne while admiring the mountains in this truly insane place that you managed to find,” Britta said. She held her glass up, Jeff clinking his against it after a moment.</p><p>“Here’s to <em>not</em> being home for the holidays,” he said before bringing his glass back in to take a large swig.</p><p>“Amen to that.”</p><p>Britta moved to do the same, tipping her head back slightly so that she could keep the glass above the water. Jeff did his best to keep from laughing at the sight as he took another sip of champagne. He also noted the black strap over her shoulder, indicating that she really had brought his favorite bikini of hers. He tried not to get too flustered at the thought as he set his glass down on the ledge next to him.</p><p>“You got anything specific that you want to do this week?” he asked, eager for a distraction.</p><p>“Hm…Christmas is on Thursday, right?”</p><p>“Yup.”</p><p>“Okay. We should Skype with the rest of the study group on the day before Christmas Eve. You know, since the others will probably be busy on the holiday.”</p><p>Jeff nodded. “Right. Even though Shirley is the only one who <em>actually</em> celebrates Christmas.”</p><p>“Well…yeah,” Britta laughed, “but you know that Troy and Annie and Abed always use the day as an excuse to dress up and have a nice meal or replicate Die Hard or something.”</p><p>“You’re right. But it’s still just…a day that most of us choose what to do with.”</p><p>Britta shrugged. “Sure. By the way, did you have anything in mind for Christmas dinner?”</p><p>“Not really. We can do something special if you’d like, though.”</p><p>“Actually…I think that I’d like to try making lasagna on Christmas Eve,” she said. Jeff gave her an inquisitive look, prompting her to explain.</p><p>“It was my grandma’s tradition, we always went over to her house on Christmas Eve and made lasagna together. It’s been a long time, so it might be kind of fun to do again.”</p><p>“And here I was, thinking that Britta Elizabeth Perry didn’t have a sentimental bone in her body.”</p><p>Britta rolled her eyes. “I just want you all to <em>think</em> that I’m incapable of sentimentality. And, regardless, I don’t indulge in it often.”</p><p>Jeff smirked, picking up his champagne flute to take another sip. “It’s been a while since we’ve hung out one-on-one, hasn’t it?”</p><p>“Yeah, why?”</p><p>He shrugged. “Don’t know. I guess I kind of missed this.”</p><p>Britta did her best to conceal an almost triumphant smile. “Well, who’s getting sentimental now?”</p><p>“Not me, nope! Not ever,” Jeff protested, finishing his drink with one big gulp.</p><p>She laughed. “Good to know that some things never change.”</p><p>---</p><p>
  <em>Sunday</em>
</p><p>---</p><p>“So we should probably get a chicken breast, right? We could make chicken parmesan one night,” Jeff mused, tapping his pen against a pad of paper.</p><p>They were drafting a grocery list over coffee, strategically planning what to buy so that they wouldn’t have to go out for the rest of the week. Britta had thanked “every deity that she didn’t believe in” when she saw that the owners of the house had left their Keurig machine fully stocked with every kind of coffee pod that they could ever want.</p><p>“Jeff? I’m a vegetarian?” Britta noted. She blew on her coffee for a moment and took a sip, almost immediately setting it back down. She stared at the mug for a moment in silent contemplation before reaching across the table to ladle another spoonful of sugar into it.</p><p>“Right. Sorry. We could get tofu, then?”</p><p>“I mean, you can get chicken for yourself, if you don’t want tofu.”</p><p>Jeff hummed in consideration. “It’ll be easier to just make one thing every night. Maybe we could do tacos at some point? Do you like vegetarian tacos? Is that a thing?”</p><p>“I mean, yeah, you choose what you put in a taco,” Britta said with a little laugh, “and yes, I like roasting sweet potatoes and using that instead of any kind of meat.”</p><p>“Huh. I’d never thought of doing that before.”</p><p>He scribbled a few more things down on the shopping list, glancing over the whole list before tearing it off the pad of paper and passing it over to Britta.</p><p>“This look good to you?”</p><p>She took a moment to peruse it before nodding and passing it back over.</p><p>“Yup! Look at us, being adults and planning ahead! Should be easy for us to get in and get out.”</p><p>---</p><p>“What kind of sorry excuse for a human being do you have to be to prefer Lucky Charms to Honey Nut Cheerios?!” Britta asked incredulously.</p><p>“What kind of Boring McBoringpants do you have to be to prefer Honey Nut Cheerios over <em>anything</em>?!” Jeff shot back.</p><p>Apparently, simply writing “cereal” on their shopping list without specifying what kind was going to be their undoing.</p><p>“Oh, I’m boring? At least I’m not a <em>child</em> that will only eat cereal that’s filled with sugar and empty calories!”</p><p>“How dare you! Lucky Charms are for all ages!”</p><p>“So are Honey Nut Cheerios! And they’re <em>far</em> more age appropriate for us.”</p><p>“Oh, really? Who are you to say what’s age appropriate?”</p><p>Before either of them could hurl any more insults, someone came up behind them and timidly tapped them both on the shoulder. They turned to glare at the other person only to discover that said person was a rather worried looking store employee.</p><p>“Um, hi. I’m sorry, but…I’m going to have to ask you to leave. You’re disturbing the other patrons,” the employee said.</p><p>“Oh, are we?” Jeff asked with a snarl.</p><p>Britta tugged on his arm, prompting him to look up and survey the area to see that there were indeed several other visibly scared shoppers watching the scene unfolding in front of them. One woman was holding one of her children back from the cereal shelves while her other child clung to her leg in an attempt to hide behind it.</p><p>“Fine,” he relented, “Can we at least pay for what we already have in our cart?”</p><p>“Sure. As long as you get out without any more arguing.”</p><p>He exchanged a quick nod with Britta before they ducked their heads down and turned to leave the aisle. But not before Britta snagged a box of Honey Nut Cheerios and slipped it into their cart.</p><p>---</p><p>The first half of the car ride was entirely silent. They’d paid for the groceries that they’d managed to pick up before the cereal argument, packed them into the trunk, and silently drove out of the parking lot.</p><p>Jeff broke the silence first. “So much for making one ‘easy-in, easy-out’ grocery run.”</p><p>“It’s not my fault that you couldn’t compromise on<em> breakfast cereal</em>. Or buy both!”</p><p>“I’m paying for this entire getaway, Britta! I’ll save money where I can, thanks.”</p><p>“I would have bought the fucking Cheerios if you asked! I would have bought <em>all</em> of the groceries if you’d asked!”</p><p>“If you really wanted to do something nice, you would have bought them without asking! I thought you knew what acts of generosity were!”</p><p>“Oh, please! I’m not going to get a lecture from Jeffery Winger on generosity,” Britta huffed, crossing her arms and turning away from him to look out the window.</p><p>Jeff sighed, attempting to calm himself down before he said anything that he would end up regretting. “What happened? Why are we letting <em>cereal</em> ruin this on day one?” he mused.</p><p>Britta moved to rub her temples, eventually burying her head in her hands. “I don’t know. This is <em>exactly</em> why I didn’t want to come at first.”</p><p>“Wait, what?”</p><p>Her head shot up, her jaw dropping in surprise at her own words. “Oh. I…you know. I didn’t really mean that. But I thought that something like this might happen and that we’d spend the rest of the trip mad at each other.”</p><p>Jeff stayed silent for a moment before responding. “Nothing says that we have to spend the rest of the trip being mad.”</p><p>“I know. I just <em>also</em> know us too well.”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“Don’t play dumb, Jeff. We’re both super stubborn and great at holding grudges. To the point where we can forget about exactly why we were mad in the first place,” Britta said, drumming her fingers against her armrest.</p><p>“But we always get over it eventually, right?”</p><p>“I mean, yeah. Whenever we feel like actually being mature adults.”</p><p>Britta moved her arm up onto the windowsill and propped her head up on it as she continued to stare out the window. The car remained silent for the rest of their journey back to their rental home.</p><p>---</p><p>Upon pulling into the driveway, they silently disembarked the car and unloaded their groceries in record time. Britta decided to heat up water in a tea kettle that she’d found in the pantry to make tea (as one of the few items she’d been able to pick up was a box of Earl Gray tea bags). She then let Daniel and Suzie B, Jr. out of their carriers, having put them in before her and Jeff left so that they couldn’t wreak any havoc on the house while they were gone. Mug of tea in hand, she retreated upstairs to the balcony, her cats following close behind.</p><p>Jeff was left to unpack and put away the groceries, seething in silence as he did so.</p><p><em>“I can be a mature adult! I’m a mature adult all the time, not just whenever I feel like it. She’s the one who chooses whether or not to be mature,”</em> he thought as he unpacked the vegetables, <em>“and now she’s left me to figure out what we can eat for lunch that only uses things from half of our grocery list. Great.”</em></p><p>He leaned against the counter once everything was put away, sighing and looking over the kitchen.</p><p>“Why did I even want her here?” he mumbled. As he took in the dark, empty space, Jeff remembered why.</p><p>
  <em>“Fuck. I’m already lonely.”</em>
</p><p>---</p><p>Britta sat on the balcony, sipping her tea and looking out over the mountains. Even though she was currently upset with Jeff, she had to admit that he’d picked the perfect house for their holiday getaway.</p><p>Daniel and Suzie B, Jr. were padding over the balcony, but Daniel stopped to paw at Britta’s leg. She set her mug down on the table so that she could lean down and pick him up. Daniel purred in contentment as he settled into her lap and she began scratching his head.</p><p>“You would never argue about cereal with me, would you? Would you?” Britta cooed, “You can’t hold a grudge like Jeff can, because you’re a cat. Isn’t that right? Isn’t that right!”</p><p>She continued petting Daniel, babbling to him as she did so.</p><p>“I don’t know why he wanted me to come, either! I don’t know what I’m doing here. And neither do you. Neither do you, Daniel! Neither do you, because you’re a cat, and I just put you in a carrier and brought you here.”</p><p>Her and Daniel’s conversation was interrupted by a sudden knock at the balcony door. She shot straight up out of her chair and yelped, causing Daniel to jump down from her lap and scurry towards his sister.</p><p>Annoyed, Britta pulled the sliding glass door open and frowned at Jeff.</p><p>“What is it?”</p><p>“I made lunch. Luckily, there was enough stuff for a decent salad. Come down and eat with me?”</p><p>---</p><p>“So…do you want to talk about what happened earlier?” Britta asked. They were sitting at the dining room table, Jeff having set two places and plated up the salad; Britta’s with extra sliced avocado and his with hard boiled eggs.</p><p>“I mean, yeah. This is all supposed to be an olive branch, of sorts,” he replied.</p><p>Britta nodded appreciatively. “Cool. Thanks. Um, do you want to go first? Or should I go?”</p><p>“You can go.”</p><p>“Alright. I’m sorry for kind of blowing things out of proportion. I know this was no worse than any of our usual arguments, but this one felt…a little more real. You know?”</p><p>“Yeah, I do. It’s been a while since we’ve cut the bullshit and actually talked about…us.”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“I’m sorry for blowing things out of proportion, too. I’m still working on choosing to be a mature adult on a more consistent basis,” Jeff said.</p><p>Britta gave him a wry smile. “Me too. For the record, reaching out and making all of this was a super mature move.”</p><p>“Did you mean that sarcastically?”</p><p>“No! Not at all. I really mean it.”</p><p>Jeff relaxed into his chair and smiled back. “Okay. Cool. It was really mature of <em>you</em> to take my olive branch at face value.”</p><p>“Yeah! Yay for maturity,” Britta said, holding her hand up for a high five. Jeff reluctantly reached over to complete the gesture, Britta’s smile widening as he did.</p><p>“So…not to be cliche, but can we officially agree to put aside all of our usual crap just for the holidays? Even if we have to give each other space at certain points in time. After this week, we can go back to our bickering and being periodically pissed off at each other and whatever. Just…having a nice week might be...nice,” Jeff proposed.</p><p>Britta tilted her head to the side. “What is it about this week that’s so special? I mean, it’s okay if there’s not a real answer and you just suddenly believe in the magic of Christmas or whatever. I just want to know.”</p><p>Jeff sighed, taking time to contemplate his next move.</p><p>“Do you want the honest answer?”</p><p>“You know I always do.”</p><p>He leaned forward, propping his head up with his hands. “Um, this is also going to sound cliche, but…my parents got divorced.”</p><p>“I know that?”</p><p>“No, I know, that wasn’t the complete thought. They got divorced around the holidays, and things were officialized a few days before Christmas.”</p><p>Britta leaned forward as well, setting her head on her hand. “How old were you?”</p><p>“Eight years old. And…I know it’s been a long time, but I really never enjoyed the holidays again after that. Until I met you guys, at least,” he replied.</p><p>“So why plan a getaway during <em>this</em> Christmas?” Britta asked.</p><p>Jeff looked up at her, squinting and furrowing his brow. “Wait a minute, you’re not therapizing me right now, are you?”</p><p>She couldn’t help the smug smile that spread across her face. “Maybe. What can I say, I’ve got skills! I’ve got skills to pay the bills!”</p><p>“Do you?”</p><p>“...maybe not quite yet. But I’ve got <em>some</em> skills!”</p><p>Jeff shrugged. “Fair enough. Well, if you must know, this year was bad again because I started thinking about how I’m getting…old. You know, I used to be afraid of getting a divorce with my future wife. Now, I’m worried that I may never even have a wife to get divorced with.”</p><p>Britta sat up and reached over to place a hand on Jeff’s arm. “Hey, don’t give up hope. One day, you’ll meet some woman that’s desperate and stupid enough to marry you.”</p><p>He frowned and swatted her hand away. She laughed and pulled away, retreating back to her chair.</p><p>“I’m serious. You have <em>so</em> much time left to get the divorce of your dreams, I promise.”</p><p>Jeff smirked. “Thanks, Britts. Same to you.”</p><p>---</p><p>
  <em>Monday</em>
</p><p>---</p><p>After a peaceful and quiet evening filled with more Great British Baking Show, hot tubbing, and killing their bottle of champagne, Jeff and Britta had retired to their rooms with plans to head out the next morning and finish their grocery shopping. This time, they engaged in a tedious amount of preplanning so that they could actually get in and get out quickly.</p><p>The plan was successful enough, the pair getting out of the store fairly quickly with everything they needed for the rest of the week. As they were driving back home, Britta was once again taking in the sights of the city, head resting on her hand as she gazed out the window.</p><p><em>“She looks…angelic,”</em> Jeff thought as he kept trying to sneak in sideways glances at her. The sunlight made her golden curls look like a halo, her wistful stare making her look less threatening than she usually did.</p><p>Immediately, he shook his head, attempting to derail that particular train of thought.</p><p>
  <em>“No. She’s just…Britta. She’s no angel. Don’t go and get all sappy just because she got you to open up earlier.”</em>
</p><p>“Jeff!” she exclaimed, bringing him out of his head and back to the car, “There’s a Christmas tree farm up ahead!”</p><p>“And?”</p><p>“We should stop and get one!”</p><p>Jeff turned to give her a confused look. “Why? And where would we put it?”</p><p>Britta shrugged. “I don’t know, might make things more festive? Get us in the spirit? And there’s space in the living room in the corner beside the TV!”</p><p>He hummed, weighing the pros and cons of her proposal. “I guess we can go take a look, see if there’s something small.”</p><p>“Yes!” She pumped her fist in the air and grinned. “It’s been forever since I’ve had a tree of my own.”</p><p>Jeff smiled at her enthusiasm as he turned into the tree farm, having to cruise through the makeshift dirt patch parking lot for a moment before finding an open space.</p><p>“I’m not sure how many are left, there’s a lot of people here. And it’s one of the last days before-”</p><p>“Oh, come on. Have a little hope, for once,” Britta interjected, swatting him on the arm. He couldn’t help but smile back before she stepped out of the car.</p><p>There were several racks set up to display trees, but they were all, as Jeff had predicted, nearly empty. Britta wandered over to the section of 3 foot tall trees and began inspecting the few that remained. With each one, she would look it up and down, reach out to touch a branch, and lift it out of the makeshift rack to turn it around and check for imperfections.</p><p>Jeff was impressed with how thorough she was being and was content to stay out of the process and trail behind her. As he waited for her to settle on a tree, he turned to look out over the rest of the farm. It was bustling with activity; several families were wandering around the aisles, children were running around and pointing out trees to their parents, and the workers were busy packing up trees and assorted extras. The hustle and bustle was strangely festive, the familiar Christmas carols coming from an unidentified source only helping to define the holiday spirit.</p><p>“Jeff! Over here!”</p><p>He snapped out of his daze and jogged over to Britta. She was pointing to a particularly stout and fluffy tree, smiling broadly.</p><p>“How about this one?”</p><p>“Hmm…I don’t know, seems a little scruffy,” he said, jokingly stroking his chin as if he were deep in thought.</p><p>Britta rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’m getting it,” she said, holding her hand up to flag down an employee.</p><p>“Oh, you don’t have to pay. I’ve got it.”</p><p>“No! You’re covering everything else. Besides, I’m the one who wanted this,” Britta said, patting Jeff on the arm before he could reach for his wallet.</p><p>He could only give her a slightly dumbfounded smile as the worker picked up the tree to go pack it up.</p><p>“Do you need a tree stand?” he asked as Jeff and Britta followed him over to the packing area.</p><p>“Um…”</p><p>“Yes, yes we do,” Britta answered before turning towards Jeff. “What were you gonna do, cobble one together yourself?”</p><p>“I mean…”</p><p>She laughed, leaning over to rest her head on his shoulder and bury her face in the crook of his neck. “You never fail to find new ways to amuse me.”</p><p>Once their tree was securely wrapped in red netting, the worker handed it over to them.</p><p>“Make sure you water it at least once a day. Here’s the stand, the register is over there. If you need someone to help carry it to your car, you can ask over there, too.”</p><p>“Thank you!” Britta said, straightening herself up so that she could grab the tree stand. “Jeff? The tree?”</p><p>“Oh, yes! Of course.” He quickly took the tree from the other man, flashing him a quick smile.</p><p>The worker cracked a smile himself as he watched both of them carry off their spoils. “You know, you two make a cute couple.”</p><p>They both stopped in their tracks, turning to look back at him.</p><p>“Uh, we’re not-”</p><p>“Thanks,” Jeff said quickly, tucking the tree under one arm so that he could pat Britta on the back and keep her moving, “Have a merry Christmas.”</p><p>A silence descended between them as they made the short trip from the bagging area to the register.</p><p>“I just said that to get us out of there faster. Just so you know. Figured it was easier than trying to explain our situation,” Jeff said as they got in line to pay for everything.</p><p>“Yeah. Totally get it. Smart move, <em>honey</em>,” Britta said, voice dripping with sarcasm. She kept her gaze locked straight ahead, clearly somewhat lost in her own head.</p><p>Jeff decided to stop looking at her and do the same, but quickly found himself fighting the continual urge to sneak glances at her. He didn’t know how she looked so pretty under the December sun with a rosy flush to her cheeks. Maybe if he studied her face enough, he’d figure it out.</p><p>---</p><p>“You <em>really</em> don’t think they’d mind if we used their Christmas decorations?” Britta asked, more than a little concern seeping into her voice.</p><p>“Nah, not at all,” Jeff assured her. They hadn’t realized that they’d forgotten to get lights, ornaments, tinsel, or anything else that could be used to trim a tree until after they were home and the evergreen was set up in the corner of the living room. However, as Jeff was starting up a fire in the fireplace on the wall opposite the tree, he’d noticed Daniel pawing at a small box of such trimmings sitting right beside it.</p><p>“They wouldn’t leave something out if it was supposed to be left alone! Plus, what else are we gonna do? Go back out to another store?”</p><p>Britta sighed, giving in and letting her moral compass swing in Jeff’s direction. “Fine. We can use them.” She snatched the box up from where Jeff had left it on the couch and began rifling through it, finding that there were a couple strands of lights, some tinsel, and a few packages of red, gold, and silver bulbs.</p><p>“Incredibly, there’s just about everything we could want in here,” she remarked, setting it down so that they could get to work. Jeff turned on the TV and flicked it to a channel that was playing Christmas movies, happy to see that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was currently on. Both of Britta’s cats seemed oddly entranced by the film, as they both leapt up onto the couch and settled down to stare intently at the screen.</p><p>“Good! Start with the lights?”</p><p>Britta nodded, already in the process of unwinding a strand. She plugged it into the closest outlet to ensure it worked before beginning to drape and wind it around the tree.</p><p>“It’s nice having a tree with this many branches. We should be able to fit a lot of ornaments in here,” she remarked.</p><p>“Mhm. Should I get the next strand ready?”</p><p>“Yup! With how long these are, we should only need two.”</p><p>Jeff unwound a decent amount of a second strand, meeting Britta over by their little tree and connecting the end of her strand to the beginning of his. Thankfully, it also lit up, giving him the go-ahead to begin wrapping it around the tree in a similar fashion.</p><p>“Hey, uh, this is sort of random, but I wanted to make sure you knew that when I called you ‘honey’ earlier? It was sarcastic,” Britta said, rubbing the back of her neck almost nervously.</p><p>Jeff tilted his head to the side in confusion. “I knew it was sarcastic. It’s not hard to tell when that’s your intention,” he said with a laugh.</p><p>“I figured! But I just wanted to make sure that you knew. I thought about it too much and started feeling weird about it.”</p><p>“Well, good thing that you’re easy to read. And, regardless, I didn’t mind.”</p><p>“Oh, so you <em>like</em> it when I call you honey?” she teased, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.</p><p>Jeff scoffed. “I didn’t say that I liked it. I just said that I didn’t mind.”</p><p>Britta smirked - almost to herself, as she was looking bashfully down at the ground. “Sure, sure. Um, I just also wanted you to know that I didn’t mean to make things weirder. Like, I don’t know why the tree farm worker thought we were a couple? That was weird. And then you kind of caught me off guard when you played along.”</p><p>“Yeah, I get it. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable when I did that.”</p><p>“Oh, I wasn’t uncomfortable! Don’t worry.”</p><p>“Oh. I wasn’t sure since you kinda shut down when it happened, you know?”</p><p>He finished looping the lights over the top of the tree, returning to the box to pull out the ornaments.</p><p>“Maybe we could put the tinsel on the mantle? I don’t think the tree needs it,” he mused.</p><p>“I wasn’t uncomfortable. It was just weird to hear, because you never acknowledged that we were a couple when we were <em>actually</em> kind of dating,” Britta blurted out.</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>Jeff couldn’t find any more words than that for a solid thirty seconds. He was looking at Britta the entire time, studying her expression and nearly shining eyes.</p><p>“You know I’ve never been good with emotions. And feelings.”</p><p>“No, I know! I’m not looking for an apology, I felt the same way. I just wanted to explain why it was weird to hear you say that.”</p><p>Jeff nodded. “Understandable. Um…do you want to move on and help me with the ornaments?”</p><p>“Absolutely! Let’s get this tree decked out.”</p><p>---</p><p>That night, Britta assembled pitas, hummus, falafel, and a Greek salad, which they decided to eat cross-legged in front of the roaring fire. Jeff had spread out a blanket and poured white wine as Britta made up plates for them. He’d also shooed Suzie B, Jr. and Daniel upstairs to Britta’s room to ensure that a rogue paw wouldn’t step in their food or a wagging tail wouldn’t knock over their drinks.</p><p>“Cheers to our Christmas tree,” Britta said, holding her glass out to Jeff. He met it with his before they both pulled them back in to take a sip.</p><p>“Absolutely. There’s something to be said about this fire, too…” he said, tilting his head towards the fireplace.</p><p>“Ah, thank you for proving your masculinity by building this beautiful fire for us. Truly, I cannot believe that you are powerful enough to harness the power of our cavemen ancestors and bring it into this beautiful modern home,” she said, taking on an extremely over-dramatic tone.</p><p>Jeff tried to frown in response, but couldn’t help the smile tugging up the corners of his mouth.</p><p>“Just so you know…<em>this</em> really is why I wanted you here.”</p><p>“What, so that I could bully you?”</p><p>“Not that specifically. I can’t quite name it, but this feeling. This is it.”</p><p>Britta gave a wide grin as she spread hummus over her pita. “Yeah. This is good.”</p><p>---</p><p>
  <em>Tuesday</em>
</p><p>---</p><p>“So Abed, Annie, and Troy are the ones making the call, right? We just have to be here to accept it?”</p><p>“Yup! There’s nothing else we have to do except get to drinking this!” Britta said, holding her mug aloft.</p><p>She’d spent part of the day making a particularly strong batch of gluhwein for the two of them, and decided that they each needed some (with an added splash of amaretto) by their sides during the study group’s Skype call.</p><p>Jeff took a swig from his mug, immediately regretting his decision when he realized how hot the drink still was. Britta laughed as he tried to quickly swallow it and cool his mouth down.</p><p>“Easy there, partner. I didn’t say to chug it.”</p><p>Before he could shoot back a witty retort, his laptop screen lit up, inviting them to join a call from apartment 303. Britta quickly accepted it, adjusting where the laptop was sitting on the coffee table in front of them so that the webcam showed both of them.</p><p>“Hi, Jeff! And…Britta? Huh, I didn’t know you guys were together. I’ll cancel the call to Britta’s account,” Annie said, moving to click a few buttons. Her, Abed, and Troy were all in frame; Troy and Annie wearing fluffy, oversized sweaters and Abed wearing the Die Hard tank top that Troy had gotten for him.</p><p>“Yeah, we decided to get away. Rent a nearby place just to be somewhere that’s not home, you know?” Jeff explained. Britta nodded, sipping her gluhwein.</p><p>“Oh, that’s cool! Pierce can’t make it because he doesn’t understand Skype, but Shirley should be joining us in a minute,” Troy said.</p><p>“Sounds good to me,” Jeff said, swirling the contents of his mug.</p><p>“So…how’ve you been? What have you guys been doing this week?” Annie asked.</p><p>“Oh, you know, just hanging out. Jeff got us a place with a hot tub, so we’ve been spending a lot of time there,” Britta said. Seemingly, she realized the potential implications of her statement a little too late and cringed, hoping that no one would comment on it.</p><p>“And we got a tree today!” Jeff quickly added, turning the laptop towards the corner so that the others could see it.</p><p>“Hi, guys! Ooo, who’s tree is that?”</p><p>They turned the laptop back around to see Shirley’s smiling face appear in the upper left hand corner of their screen.</p><p>“It’s ours,” Britta said proudly.</p><p>“Oh, it’s very nice. Say, what are you two doing together?”</p><p>“Staying at a different place for the week. Just to get away,” Jeff quickly explained.</p><p>“Oh…that’s nice? I didn’t know that you two had started dating again.”</p><p>Everyone on the call went silent for a few seconds, Jeff and Britta both screaming silently in their heads.</p><p>“We’re not, this is just a…friend thing,” Britta said weakly.</p><p>“Oh! Okay then,” Shirley said, clearly still very skeptical of the pair. However, she was content to bury the topic and swiftly move on. “You look very cute, Troy and An-nie! What movies have you and Abed watched so far?”</p><p>“We went all in on Indiana Jones. Even the fourth one with Shia Labeouf,” Abed replied, “We’re sort of doing a Spielburg deep dive. Next is all of the Jurassic Parks.”</p><p>“Good choice,” Jeff chimed in.</p><p>“What do you have in those mugs? Cocoa?” Troy asked, leaning forward towards the camera.</p><p>“Uh…it’s gluhwein. Like a hot, spiced wine,” Britta answered.</p><p>“My mother-in-law makes a drink like that. Except it’s mostly wine with very little spice,” Shirley said.</p><p>Britta laughed. “So is ours…with a little extra amaretto.”</p><p>“It’s good, though. It’s dangerous how good this is,” Jeff remarked, gently elbowing Britta in the side. She looked up and smiled warmly in return. Jeff wasn’t sure if it was the wine or the fire or her smile making his face flush. Maybe it was some combination of the three.</p><p>The rest of the call went on as expected, with Shirley talking about what her and her boys had been up to so far (lots of cookie decorating and gingerbread house making), Abed picking apart inconsistencies in the first three Indiana Jones movies (Jeff <em>totally</em> didn’t zone out for that part and nod along like he’d actually seen all of the movies when, in fact, he hadn’t), and Annie showing off her latest knitting project (a pink, purple, and blue scarf for Abed). Britta got up to refill their mugs twice, adding a little more amaretto each time.</p><p>By the time they were saying goodbye and wishing Shirley a merry Christmas, Jeff and Britta were both more than a little tipsy. They left the call and closed Jeff’s laptop before sinking back into the couch cushions.</p><p>“Wow. This vine glue is really something,” Jeff murmured, holding up his mug and peering into it.</p><p>Britta giggled. “It’s gluhwein, Jeff! Not the other way around.”</p><p>“Whatever. Glue vine, vine glue, it’s the same either way.”</p><p>Britta finished off the last of her drink and set the mug on the coffee table in front of her. “Sure. Sure. Maybe the last glass was a mistake. I feel like I’m so sleepy that I could just fall asleep right here.”</p><p>“No way, I feel like I could fall asleep right here!” Jeff took the last sip of his as well and set it aside before shifting his position so that his legs were tucked up on the couch and he was facing Britta.</p><p>“Well, I got dibs! I said it first.”</p><p>“What? I wasn’t actually fighting you for it. But…now that you mention it…”</p><p>“No! I want to sleep on the couch beside the fire!”</p><p>“I <em>made</em> the fire!”</p><p>“Ugh, that’s not fair,” Britta grumbled, shifting so that she was facing him as well. “You might have made the fire, but I picked out the tree! And made the gluhwein. And dinner, for that matter!”</p><p>“Well, why can’t we both sleep here?”</p><p>Britta narrowed her eyes and gave an annoyed huff. “Fine. But you have to let me be the big spoon.”</p><p>Jeff gave her a confused look. “We don’t have to spoon? One of us could face one way and-”</p><p>“I don’t want your feet by my face! Just…come over here,” Britta insisted, waving for him to come over.</p><p>Jeff sighed, but for some reason, relented with no further argument. Britta slid further down the couch and set her head on the armrest as Jeff moved to do the same. She threw one arm over him and tugged on his torso to pull him in closer to her until their bodies were flush against each other.</p><p>“See? This is nice,” she mumbled, her lips ghosting the back of his neck.</p><p>Jeff tried not to shiver at the unexpected physical contact. “Yeah. Surprisingly.”</p><p>Britta laughed. “Surprisingly. Hm.”</p><p>“Hm, what?” Jeff craned his neck around to look at her the best he could without moving too much.</p><p>“I don’t know. Maybe ‘hm, I don’t know why this is so nice’ or ‘hm, I miss this’.”</p><p>He wasn’t quite sure what compelled him to do so, or if he even put any thought into it at all, but Jeff surged forward to place a sloppy kiss on Britta’s forehead.</p><p>“So do I.”</p><p>A warm smile took over Britta’s face once more. “You think we’re gonna remember this in the morning?”</p><p>“Maybe.”</p><p>“...you think we’ll regret it?”</p><p>Jeff paused to think for a moment. “What do we have to regret? As long as we don’t do anything else. This is just…us.”</p><p>“Yeah. I guess you’re right.”</p><p>Britta wrapped her other arm around Jeff so that she was fully embracing him. He relaxed into the embrace, placing one hand on top of hers.</p><p>“Well, to be totally honest, I’m about to pass out. G’night, Jeff. See you in the morning.”</p><p>“Good night, Britts.”</p><p>“You know, I love it when you call me that…” she mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper as she buried her head in the crook of his neck once more.</p><p>Jeff almost wanted to stay awake longer to fully take in the sensation of having Britta’s arms wrapped around him and her legs twisted together with his. However, it ultimately only took another minute or so for his eyes to flutter closed as he drifted off to sleep in the warm glow of the fireplace.</p><p>---</p><p>
  <em>Wednesday</em>
</p><p>---</p><p>Britta was the first to wake up the next morning, opening her eyes to see the room lit only by the sunlight peeking through the blinds and the lights on their Christmas tree. The fire had gone out, but she presumed that was probably for the best. Daniel and Suzie B, Jr. were rolling around on the other side of the coffee table, apparently having found a way to break out of her room.</p><p>She couldn’t see Jeff’s face; she could only feel his chest rising and falling, his feet rubbing against hers ever so slightly.</p><p><em>“How did we even get here?”</em> she wondered for a moment. However, once she spotted the empty mugs on the coffee table, she instantly understood how.</p><p>Britta was about to settle back down against Jeff, but he began to stir as well, so she sat up and released him from her grasp.</p><p>“Morning, sunshine,” she muttered.</p><p>“Hmph,” he grumbled in return.</p><p>Britta chuckled. “Hey, can you get up? I want to see if we’re early enough to catch the sunrise.”</p><p>“Sure, sure. Just give me a minute.” Jeff moved to stretch and rub his eyes. Britta sighed, knowing that he might take a while to get up. So, instead of waiting for him, she launched herself over the armrest and onto the hardwood floor on the other side.</p><p>“Smooth move,” Jeff called as she opened the door to the patio. Britta was too distracted to pay him much mind, however, as the sun was indeed in the process of rising over the purple mountains in the distance.</p><p>“Jeff! You’ve gotta come see this!”</p><p>“Coming,” he grumbled. Despite how unenthusiastic he sounded, it was only a moment before he appeared at her side.</p><p>“Look!” she urged, gesturing to the scene in front of them.</p><p>The mountains were pretty before, but the golden halo that the sun was currently casting around them made the sight many times better. The colors seemed more vibrant, and the cloudless blue sky in the background only added to their beauty.</p><p>“Wow. Pretty,” Jeff said.</p><p>Britta grinned, leaning over to gently bump into his side. “I forgot how talkative you always are in the mornings,” she joked.</p><p>“Mhm. You know, they’re kind of like you.”</p><p>“What’s that?”</p><p>“The mountains. They’re prettier in the sun,” he elaborated.</p><p>Britta was suddenly dumbfounded, entirely unsure of what to say next.</p><p>“Um, I…”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah. I’ll go make us some coffee,” Jeff said, waving a hand dismissively.</p><p>“No, that’s not what-”</p><p>She reached out to him, but he had already turned away and gone back inside. (This was how it always ended, wasn’t it?)</p><p>---</p><p>After a rather uneventful morning spent with each of them making phone calls and sending texts to various old friends and acquaintances, Britta decided to get out the lasagna recipe. Despite her protests, Jeff insisted on helping out. Of course he did.</p><p>“Alright, so first, we’ve got to get the sauce ready. Then boil the noodles, then assemble everything. Should be easy enough!” Britta said, trying her best to maintain her optimism.</p><p>“Okay. I’m here to do whatever you say you need help with,” Jeff said.</p><p>She nodded. “Okay. First, can you get out a saucepan? And our crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce?”</p><p>He nodded back and set about the task as Britta turned to raid the pantry for the necessary spices. Little was said as they worked surprisingly harmoniously, heating up the tomatoes and mixing in the right amounts of the various spices with no major problems.</p><p>“Um, you don’t have to keep stirring, it’ll take care of itself,” Britta insisted, eventually waving Jeff away from the stove.</p><p>“Are you sure? I don’t want the sauce to burn.”</p><p>“Yes, it’ll be fine. More than fine,” she insisted. He stepped away and joined her by the counter.</p><p>“Alright, so what next? I-”</p><p>“Jeff, did you mean what you said this morning?”</p><p>He blinked slowly. “I don’t know, what <em>did</em> I say this morning?”</p><p>“You don’t remember?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Oh,” Britta’s voice cracked. “Well, then, never mind. Next, we have to boil the pasta, and-”</p><p>“Wait…was it something about the mountains? And…”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>Jeff tilted his head in mild confusion. “And you just want to know if I meant it?” he asked.</p><p>“Well…yeah.”</p><p>He scoffed. “Of course I meant it. They’re pretty, you’re pretty, but you’re prettier when there’s something else to…illuminate you.”</p><p>Britta got the idea that he wasn’t only referring to literal light sources. So she concealed a triumphant smile and nodded vigorously.</p><p>“Okay. Thanks.”</p><p>“Any particular reason you wanted to know?” he asked, a hopeful edge to his voice that Britta wished she didn’t recognize.</p><p>“No reason. Just curious,” she said dismissively. She tried to ignore how he deflated a little bit and did her best to charge forward with the recipe.</p><p>“Well, um, as I was saying, with the noodles…”</p><p>---</p><p>About an hour later, they had a complete lasagna assembled, ready for the oven. Britta decided to go ahead and set the dining room table afterwards while Jeff went upstairs to clean himself up and get ready for dinner. She’d found an entire set of nice white linens with embossing similar to that of her bedspread and decided there couldn’t be any harm in using the nicer table settings as long as they made sure to clean them afterwards.</p><p>Once the table was set, Britta followed suit and scurried upstairs to change, put her hair up, and dab on a little makeup. She was glad that she had packed a nice outfit for Christmas Eve, having gone back and forth on whether or not to do so while packing her suitcase. Eventually, she’d settled on bringing a red velvet dress and a pair of wool tights.</p><p>If nothing else, the look on Jeff’s face as she descended the staircase was worth it.</p><p>“Holy shit,” he muttered from where he stood near the base of it, only half under his breath, “You look amazing.”</p><p>Her mouth quirked upwards, her red lipstick only making the proud smirk more prominent. “Thanks, Winger. You don’t look so bad yourself.”</p><p>He was wearing a simple blue button down and tan slacks. But, Britta had always thought that he looked better in simpler outfits anyway. He’d let his scruff grow out over the past few days, which was another thing that Britta appreciated. (In a completely and totally platonic way.)</p><p>“Well, uh…shall we?” Jeff asked, gesturing towards the dining room.</p><p>“We shall.”</p><p>Apparently, he’d been downstairs and ready for a little while, because the lasagna pan was out of the oven and on the table, along with two full glasses of red wine.</p><p>“Oh, where did this come from?” she asked, gesturing to the half empty bottle sitting at the end of the table.</p><p>“Oh, you know…you brought champagne, I brought that. Figured we might want some if we had a nice meal.”</p><p>Britta smiled and nodded as they took their seats across from each other. She leaned forward and picked up the serving spatula that Jeff had set out next to the lasagna dish.</p><p>“Well…here goes nothing.”</p><p>She tried to keep herself from cringing as she cut into the lasagna. However, whatever fears she had were quickly assuaged as the spatula went in with no problems. She cut a decently sized slice and lifted it out of the pan, moving to put it on Jeff’s plate.</p><p>“Hey, that looks like lasagna!” he said encouragingly.</p><p>“I sure hope it would,” Britta murmured as she cut a second slice for herself. She settled back into her chair and smiled down at her plate for a moment, feeling incredibly proud of their culinary creation.</p><p>When she looked up, she saw that Jeff was holding out his glass of wine.</p><p>“Another toast?” he asked hopefully.</p><p>Her smile broadened. “Of course. This one’s to us and our lasagna!” She brought her glass up and clinked it against his. “Hopefully it tastes as good as it looks.”</p><p>“I’m sure it will.”</p><p>They each took small sips of their wine before setting their glasses down and picking up their forks, eager to dig into the pasta dish.</p><p>Jeff took a bite first, Britta pausing to watch his reaction. His expression quickly became one of happy surprise, much to her delight.</p><p>“It’s good, Britta! It tastes like lasagna!”</p><p>“Phew, that’s good to hear,” she said, wiping imaginary sweat off her forehead. She quickly went to dig into hers and was pleasantly surprised to find that Jeff wasn’t lying.</p><p>“You know, I’m proud of us,” Jeff said, beaming at Britta, “I feel like I should thank you again. For coming here with me. I haven’t even thought about all the depressing holiday shit since we talked about it a few days ago.”</p><p>Britta smiled back. “Glad I could help. I should thank <em>you</em> for inviting me. It’s been…fun, to be honest. I still can’t believe you found this place. And that it was cheap! Only you could have that kind of luck.”</p><p>Jeff gave a clearly forced smile back. “Mhm, yeah, totally. I’m super lucky.”</p><p>Britta studied his pained expression for a moment, slightly alarmed at his sudden shift in demeanor.</p><p>“Is everything okay Jeff?”</p><p>He set down his fork and sighed. “Um, yeah. There’s just…something I feel like I should tell you?”</p><p>“Okay, what is it?”</p><p>“This wasn’t a super cheap rental like I said it was. It was actually kind of expensive,” he spilled, looking up from the tablecloth for long enough to catch her stunned expression. “This doesn’t belong to some family that’s out for the holidays and just wanted someone to house-sit, it’s owned by professional Airbnb renters.”</p><p>“Well, that’s not a big deal. Why didn’t you tell me?”</p><p>“For one, I didn’t want you to feel guilty about tagging along for free. For another, I didn’t want you to think that I was trying too hard to impress you.”</p><p>Britta took a moment to mull over the implications of everything that Jeff had just said.</p><p>“Is ‘too’ the operative word there?” she said with a short laugh.</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“You <em>were</em> trying to impress me. You just didn’t want it to seem like you were trying too hard.”</p><p>It was Jeff’s turn to take a moment of silent contemplation.</p><p>“I mean, yeah. I was telling the truth earlier this week, I didn’t lie about anything, I promise. But…”</p><p>“I believe you, Jeff,” Britta said, reaching across the table to place one hand on one of his.</p><p>“Thanks. But I, uh, I <em>did</em> kind of want to impress you. I feel like we haven’t been spending as much time together lately. And after everything you did for me on Thanksgiving, I felt like I kind of owed you for that. And…I also kind of, um…”</p><p>“C’mon, you can finish that sentence! I believe in you,” Britta teased.</p><p>“I also kind of maybe still have some romantic feelings for you. I know this might be out of nowhere, and believe me, I didn't want it to be true either. But it is, and these past few days have made me confront that. It's okay if you don't feel the same way, really, it is. I'm sorry if I made this awkward, especially after the whole deal of everyone thinking that we're a couple.”</p><p>She was speechless. After all, what does one say when their ex-boyfriend that they’ve been engaged to twice says that he still has romantic feelings for them?</p><p>So, Britta didn’t say anything. Words would have felt disingenuous somehow, despite the fact that Jeff had pretty much just spilled his soul out to her. Instead of trying to formulate a verbal response, she stood up and frantically ran around the table to Jeff and took his face in both of her hands. She quirked her brow up as if to ask permission to do what she wanted to do. He eagerly nodded and aided in closing the distance between them.</p><p>The way they crashed together never failed to be messy. However, that was usually only ever meant in an emotional, metaphorical sense. This time, Jeff knocked over his wine glass in his haste to pull Britta into his lap. He wrapped one arm around Britta’s waist and cupped her chin with his free hand. Red wine seeped into the white tablecloth, and Jeff Winger and Britta Perry kissed each other like the world was coming to an end.</p><p>Eventually, Britta pulled herself back enough to look at Jeff, grinning at his flushed and sweaty visage.</p><p>“In case it wasn’t exceedingly obvious, I feel the same way.”</p><p>“Oh, phew, that’s a relief!” Jeff said, jokingly wiping a hand across his forehead, “Here I was, worried that you were just being a good friend.”</p><p>“Shut up, Winger,” Britta grumbled, going back in to make sure that he did.</p><p>“Hey, hey, wait. Should we move this somewhere else? Like-”</p><p>“My room. Now,” she insisted, sounding incredibly impatient.</p><p>In the end, their lasagna went cold, the wine only seeped further into the tablecloth, and Britta’s cats were kicked out of her room and left to roam the rest of the house for the night.</p><p>---</p><p>
  <em>Thursday</em>
</p><p>---</p><p>“Merry Christmas, Britta.”</p><p>She stirred, moving to stretch out in her bed. However, an unfamiliar warmth was in her way. Her eyes flew open to see Jeff smiling down at her. He was gently stroking her hair in a strangely tender fashion, which should have startled her more than it did.</p><p>“Looks like we got a white Christmas,” he said, gesturing out the glass door to their right. He’d already pulled back the curtain so they could see the freshly fallen snow as well as the few stray flurries still making their way to the ground.</p><p>“Wow. It’s beautiful,” Britta murmured.</p><p>“That it is. And so are you.”</p><p>She moved up to press a gentle kiss to the side of his neck. “Ever the charmer, Winger.”</p><p>“As I aim to be.”</p><p>“So…what’s on the agenda for today?”</p><p>Jeff took a moment to pretend like he was having a hard time coming with a plan. Britta laughed at his theatrics, playfully swatting at him so that he would give an answer.</p><p>“Well, I was thinking that maybe we could have breakfast on your balcony, make some Christmas cookies, watch a Hallmark movie, fuck a few more times…you know…”</p><p>Britta made a show of rolling her eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”</p><p>“Oh? What part of that plan do you have a problem with?”</p><p>She sat up and narrowed her eyes at him, shifting herself so that she was almost on top of him. “I don’t have a problem with any of it. You caught me.”</p><p>Jeff pulled her in for a deep kiss, caressing the back of her neck and the outside of her thigh. Britta readily kissed him back and wound her arms around him the best she could.</p><p>When they pulled apart again, Jeff took a moment to study Britta’s face in complete silence. She cracked a smile and poked him in the side.</p><p>“Whatcha thinking?”</p><p>“Um, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself here, but…do you think that maybe we should be like…a real couple?”</p><p>Britta paused, as it was now her turn to pretend to take a long time to think of a response. “Like, I’d be your girlfriend and you’d be my boyfriend?”</p><p>“Yeah. Something like that,” Jeff replied with a wide grin.</p><p>“Hm, I don’t know…it’s been so long since I’ve been able to say that I have a boyfriend that the word feels kind of weird to say,” she teased.</p><p>“Whatever. I don’t care what you call me, but I want to date you. Is that crazy?”</p><p>“No. That might be one of the sanest things you’ve ever said to me,” Britta joked, leaning back in to give him a chaste peck on the lips, “<em>Of course</em> I’d love to be your girlfriend.”</p><p>Jeff let out a sigh of relief that he hadn’t even realized he was holding. “Good. I’m glad. This was gonna be a little awkward if you said no.”</p><p>Britta laughed, collapsing onto Jeff’s chest and placing a kiss on his collarbone. “Something tells me that this is gonna be the best Christmas I’ve had in awhile,” she said, sighing happily.</p><p>“Me too, Britts. Me too.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>as always, please leave any thoughts/opinions/etc. down below! in all likelihood, this will be the last fic I post this year, so I want to thank everyone who may be reading this for supporting me in my writing journey. whether you've been reading my stuff since I started posting this year or this is the first fic of mine that you've read, I want to give you my sincere thanks. fic writing has been a great outlet/hobby in this really crappy year, and it's because of all the support I've received that I've kept going. I really can't thank you all enough. I hope you have a happy holiday season and here's to a better new year!! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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